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And 22 other numbers that will help you understand our world.
Minimum percentage of women required by law in Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council (an advisory council to the king and his cabinet): 20 (1)
Percentage of women currently serving in the United States Congress: 19.4 (2)
Percentage of speaking roles for women in popular film (based on a study of 120 films from 11 countries released between 2010 and 2013): 31
Percentage of those films with a female protagonist: 23
Percentage of those films with a female director: 7 (3)
Approximate change in Earth’s terrestrial wildlife population, 1970-2010: -39%
Approximate change in Earth’s marine wildlife population, 1970-2010: -39%
Approximate change in Earth’s freshwater wildlife population, 1970-2010: -76%
Approximate change in Earth’s human population, 1970-2010: +185% (4)
Approximate population of New York City (as of 2013): 8,405,837 (5)
Approximate population of Hangzhou, China (as of 2010): 8,700,373 (6)
Approximate number of bikes in New York’s Citibike, the largest bike-sharing program in the United States: 6,000
Number of bikes in Hangzhou Public Bicycle, the largest program in the world: 69,750 (7)
Amount of global new investment in renewable energy in 2004: $40 billion
Amount of global new investment in renewable energy in 2013: $214 billion
Total world capacity for production of solar power in 2004: 3.7 gigawatts
Total world capacity for production of solar power in 2013: 139 gigawatts (8)
Number of known detainees in the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program: 119
Number of detainees determined by the Senate Intelligence Committee to have been wrongfully held: At least 26 (9)
Number of American children who experienced homelessness in 2006: 1,555,369
Number of American children who experienced homelessness in 2013: 2,483,539 (10)
Number of protests worldwide (as defined in a study by the Initiative for Policy Dialogue and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung New York Office) in 2006: 59
Number of protests worldwide in 2012: 159
Number of protests worldwide in the first six months of 2013: 112 (11)
Citations:
1. “Saudi king names women to advisory council,” Al-Jazeera, January 12, 2013.
2. “Fact Sheet: Women in the U.S. Congress 2015,” Rutgers Center for American Women and Politics, January 2015.
3. “Gender Bias Without Borders: An Investigation of Female Characters in Popular Films Across 11 Countries,” Dr. Stacy L. Smith et al, Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, September 2014.
4. “Living Planet Report 2014,” World Wildlife Fund, September 2014.
5. “QuickFacts: New York (city), New York,” United States Census Bureau, July 2013.
6. “China: Administrative District of Zhèjiāng,” City Population, sourced from China National Bureau of Statistics, 2010.
7. “The 16 Best Bike Shares in the World,” Mark Lebetkin, The Active Times, June 14, 2013.
8. “Renewables 2014: Global Status Report,” Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century, July 2014.
9. “Committee Study of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Detention and Interrogation Program,” Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, December 2014.
10. “America’s Youngest Outcasts: A Report Card on Child Homelessness,” Ellen L. Bassuk, MD, et al, National Center on Family Homelessness, November 2014.
11. “World Protests 2006-2013,” Isabel Ortiz et al, Initiative for Policy Dialogue and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung New York Office, September 2014.
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